Peter Gabriel in Brazil SWU Music and Arts Festival

The greatest surprise in this year’s SWU press conference was Peter Gabriel’s return to Brazil (after almost 18 years) – and this time, not with guitars or drums, but a complete orchestra: The New Blood Orchestra.

Here come the questions: “Can a rock idol’s concert work without the genre’s traditional instruments? With no beats? No loops or samples, which characterize his most popular phase in the 80′s as well as his albums So?

It’s worth noting that referring to Peter Gabriel as a rock idol may be considered a mistake, since he is one of the artists that thinks ahead the most in regards to pop music. Though having started as the vocalist to one of the pillars of progressive rock in the 70′s, Geneses, Gabriel is far from being just a “dinosaur”. He is the kind of restless artist, who believe we are entering a time in which beauty can be found in imperfection. With electronic drums, or a synthesizer you are able to reproduce perfect sounds, in other words something very distant from a natural, opaque instrumental sound.

Meanwhile, with a collection of cords and acoustic instruments, as found in as orchestra, you will find imperfections. Even when dealing with exquisite musicians, it is impossible for tone variations not to occur.

The emotion pressed through by every element in an orchestra, every individual instrument, will also alter the final result. In short, there is a vital vibration that arises from the acoustic instruments being performed live, in the heat of the moment. It is exactly this, which has lead Peter Gabriel to gear towards this new project and it should please everyone who will attend his long awaited performance at our 2011 SWU Festival.

Scratch My Back, the vocalist’s most recent bet on the human touch, is organic and real, during the apex of technological outbreak. In his intriguing album, Gabriel re-reads songs by other artists, filling them in with strings. Simply his voice, and the orchestra.

Other artists and current projects, such as Owen Pallett, These Puritans Nyman, are walking along the same line, flirting with classic contemporary music. Would this be the beginning of a rebellion against the presence of technology in music?

Peter Gabriel comments: “It is very difficult to look from the outside when your inside. When you think about it, when you have a lot of the same thing, other things start looking more attractive.” He said to the British magazine Classic Rock, three months ago.

About 1973, the rich sounds of Genesis resounded like a symphony of long suites of modern instruments, Peter Gabriel closed a cycle and created a new symphony, abandoning the electronic effects and betting again on the beauty of human imperfection.

The line-up of the SWU Music and Arts Festival in Paulinia (Nov. 12 to 14 2011) was published right now and PG was one of the 5 first names revealed (among Black Eyed Peas, Damian Marley, Snoop Dogg, and Megadeth.)

3 comments

Peter Gabriel (if u ever read this): for us (brazilian people) Ultrage a Rigor is as important as Guns N Roses or Foo Fighters. And that (SWU) was a rock concert. Man, have u any idea of the silliness u made? Who knows.. I think u lost 99% of potential fans in Brazil that night.

I'm here just to tell you that your show was ridiculous, it has nothing to do with rock and roll, and besides that, you are the typical dumbass foreigner artist who think all the people are there to see you. People were there to see ULTRAJE A RIGOR, and you ruined their day telling your roadie to fight the performers. IT's just ridiculous, it's unforgettable. You should be ashamed of yourself, man! Don't be such a sissy. It took you 18 years to come back to Brazil and I dare say... It should have taken a lot longer! Let's see... maybe 50 years, maybe a century?!!?

You are very lucky because the leader of the band DIDN'T tell us you were doing that.